


The Boggart

by AutisticWriter



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bickering, Blood, Boggarts, Established Relationship, Fear, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Marauders' Era, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-09
Updated: 2016-06-09
Packaged: 2018-07-14 02:18:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7148333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutisticWriter/pseuds/AutisticWriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Remus's boggart shocks everyone, but not as much as Sirius.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Boggart

Fourteen year old Remus Lupin stood midway down a line of bustling, excited Griffindor and Ravenclaw students in their Defence Against The Dark Arts classroom. It appeared that he was the only person in the room who wasn’t looking forward to their task – tackling a boggart and using Ridikulus to change it into something funny – and that was probably something to do with the fact that he knew his boggart was going to have something to do with his lycanthropy. But he didn’t make a fuss, and silently got more and more anxious as he moved forwards in the queue. Still, he found himself wishing that something would disrupt the lesson, just so he could get out of here.

“You all right, Moony?” Sirius asked. He nodded, smiling weakly.

Sirius reached for his hand, the action totally blocked from the other students by their long robes, and squeezed it tightly, but it didn’t do much to reassure him. He watched several students battle a variety of creepy objects, and noticed that less than half of them managed to perform Ridikulus successfully. That didn’t exactly help calm his nerves.

The first Maruader to go was James. He smiled cockily, strutted forwards, and came face to face with a massive spider. He gulped, and Remus was faintly amused to see how quickly his face lost its colour. The spider crept towards him, and James let out a squeaking sound.

“Rid . . . ridi . . . ridikulus!” James yelled, finally getting the word out, but nothing happened.

“Focus on something happy, Potter!” Their DADA professor called from where he was leaning against the wall, his wand pointed at the boggart in case he needed to spring into action.

But James didn’t seem to be able to do it, and, sighing, he eventually walked away. When he saw the way Sirius was looking at him, he scowled.

“What? I’d like to see you do better.”

Sirius just smiled and looked over at Lily Evans, who was giggling with her friends. James sighed, and Remus knew he was thinking about how his chance of going out with Evans had just rapidly decreased. Remus smiled sympathetically.

Peter was the next Marauder who had to face the boggart, and his attempt was even less successful. He saw a ghost, and, much like James, he freaked out. But, unlike James, he didn’t even attempt to battle the ghost. Instead, he squealed, turned on his heels, and legged it. He was already out of their room before their professor even noticed that he had gone, and the whole class laughed.

A few seconds later, Peter poked his head back into the room. His eyes were wide and he was chewing on his lip. The class started laughing all over again. Peter crept back towards his friends, and Sirius put his arm around his shoulders.

“Never mind, Wormtail,” he said, and Peter smiled weakly.

A few minutes later, Remus had his turn. He half expected it to be the full moon, or perhaps himself as a werewolf, but the shape the boggart took surprised even him. Because, all of a sudden, he found himself staring at a dead body. The body of Sirius Black.

His eyes widened, and he felt like he was about to be sick. Sirius’s eyes were open, but lifeless, staring blankly up at the ceiling. His skin was pale, almost white against his dark hair, which was matted with what looked like blood. But, worst of all, there was a huge bite mark on his shoulder, which was pouring blood all over the floor. And Remus recognised the bite as the bite of a werewolf.

His breathes were coming in jagged gasps, and his eyes started to sting. He raised his hand, wand pointing at the boggart, and tried to cast the spell. But nothing happened. He knew he had to think of something happy, but, staring at the body, all he could think of was about that really happening, as though he really did bite Sirius.

His legs gave way, and he collapsed to his knees, his wand clattering to the floor. He covered his face with his hands, unable to bear looking at the body anymore. He wanted to throw up and burst into tears, and, to be honest, it was a miracle that he managed to avoid doing both.

And then Sirius and James and Peter were crowded around him, and their professor was forcing the boggart back into the cupboard and telling the other students that the session was over, and they could leave early.

“It’s all right, Moony,” James said softly, putting his hand on his shoulder.

“It was only a boggart,” Peter added, his voice wavering slightly. “It wasn’t real, Remus.”

Remus opened his eyes, and tried to smile. Sirius put his arm around him, pulling him close, and Remus leaned against his boyfriend’s shoulder, still not quite able to believe that Sirius wasn’t dead, that he hadn’t bitten him, that it was just a boggart.

“Hey, Lupin, why’s your boggart Black’s body?” A Ravenclaw boy asked from the doorway.

Sirius gave him an obscene hand gesture in reply, and, thankfully, the boy left them alone.

“But why is your boggart my body?” Sirius asked.

“It wasn’t just your body, Padfoot,” James said, “It was your body with a werewolf bite. Moony's biggest fear is you getting bitten.”

Sirius suddenly pulled Remus into tight hug. “Is that true, Moony?”

Remus nodded his head against his boyfriend’s shoulder. James smiled.

“I wish someone loved me that much.” He said dreamily, with a hint of bitterness.

“Is that someone Evans?”

“Yes.”

Remus shuffled around so he could see the way James was smiling.

“Sorry, James, but I think she thinks you’re a wimp now,” Peter said, smirking.

James hit him. Peter yelped. Remus smiled.

“But, seriously, Moony, thanks for caring,” Sirius was smiling too, warmly, like he really loved him.

“That’s all right,” He said, but he still wished that he hadn’t seen that boggart, and, more than that, he wished that his worst fear would never, ever come true.


End file.
